Masonry products such as bricks (as well as pavers, cement or glass blocks and other similar building materials) are typically shipped in large cubes consisting of stacks of bricks. These cubes are placed on pallets or have openings in the cubes to accept a forklift. The different layers of brick are separated by paper and the bricks are secured by steel or plastic straps encircling the brick packages. In order to protect the edges of the bricks and hold the packaging together, a longitudinally disposed edge protector is often provided. This edge protector is perpendicular to the strap and is placed along four edges of the cube and under the straps. The edge protectors take on an "L" shape when placed on the bricks and serve to both protect the edges of the bricks and hold the packages together. One such edge protector is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,329,262, entitled "Elastic Protective Corner and Tensioning Strips for Transportable Brick Packages" and issued to Martin et al. on Jul. 4, 1967.
While this is a popular way of transporting bricks, the edge protectors can slip when the straps used to secure the cubes are applied. This is especially true when modern plastic straps are used. This results in exposed edges, damage to the bricks or blocks and loss of packaging integrity.
Additionally, current edge protectors are made flat and are bent to the required "L" shape using a special form die when applied to the packaging. Due to the smooth texture of the surface of the strip, a correct "L" shape is not always formed, resulting in unsatisfactory packaging.
Also, edges of bricks are often very sharp. Current flat edge protectors fail to offer sufficient cushioning against this sharp edge and will tear or otherwise become non-functional.